Derdiyok saves face for the squad

By: Scott | August 1st, 2009

One of the nice things about the Pokal for those of us beyond a train ride away from the stadium, is getting to see teams like FC Magdeburg and SC Preußen Münster play- the latter of whom provided some of the more exciting footy of the opening round so far, and who didn’t deserve to have their fearless tenacity castrated with a cheap offside goal by the likes of Hertha Berlin two minutes from the match going to penalties.

Less enjoyable is seeing one’s club fight hard to eke out a win over a side they should have had little trouble against.

Though the official club recap casts the squad in the roll of cunning jungle cat, patiently laying in wait for it’s prey and then pouncing for the kill, that’s not quite how the ticker reads. The chances were there and it’s a bit troubling that we managed only a single goal mid-way through the second half.

As I recall, a lot of last season’s post-match comments involved the words “couldn’t convert their chances.” Although the Werkself looked good in the 12 minutes or so of the match that the Konferenz allowed me to see, and definitely didn’t fall apart when the ball didn’t go where they wanted it, the nagging problem we had up front last season continues to nag:

Just over the bar. Slightly to the right of the post (which wouldn’t be a bad thing- provided it’s the left post we’re slightly to the right of.) Wild headers. The cross that passes harmlessly just beyond reach of a finishing touch.

A too familiar collection of misses for my liking.

Oh, indeed I have faith in Kießling, Gekas and yesterday’s lone-gunman Derdiyok, but with Helmes being out on injury- possibly for the entire first half of the new campaign- I can’t be the only one who thinks it wouldn’t be bad to bring in another striker.

Of course, maybe I’m just being a dick. It could have been much worse. Just ask this man:

Lübeck: 2
Mainz: 1
Humiliation: Immeasurable

Round two comes up September 22/23, leaving the Lübeck coach (pictured right) plenty of time to pick his shirts up from the dry-cleaners.

Which reminds me, special thanks to Karlsruhe for proving that our new Away kit, which look like something Ronald MacDonald would throw on when he’s just dashing out to check the mail, isn’t as awful as it could have been.

Here are the highlights of Leverkusen’s Round One Pokal performance: